Sunday, May 25, 2008

Hot as Rock Band


I'm in Austin this weekend. We have friends here, and so we visit. First note: it is HOT. I hope to remember this and not complain about DC in August, because Austin in May is worse, and they have many more months of it. Yet another reason why Texans are all crazy. That and how they believe the presence of a quarterback's girlfriend at a football game will determine whether they win the Super Bowl. Oh, and they name airports after one-term Presidents who sire two-term Presidents who believe that Jesus wants us in Iraq. You know, I could keep going. Texans are crazy for lots of reasons.

Second note: barbecue is awesome. We ate at the best barbecue restaurant on the planet last night. You pay $19 and they bring you plates of barbecue (sausage, brisket, and ribs), potoato salad, beans, and bread until you burst. Then, when you think you can't eat any more, they bring cobbler, which requires you to pack in more. Then you roll outside and drive back to Austin, where you collapse into a coma. Good times. Interestingly, it's in a dry county, so they serve no alcohol. But no problem! You can bring a cooler of beer! Or cider! Or wine, which we didn't understand, really, but you can add that to the Texas Crazy List started above.

Third note: we have been introduced to Rock Band. This shit is addictive. It's like Guitar Hero, but with drums, a bass, and a singer. And if you're a guy who owns a big house in Austin, you build a stage for it. About 12 of us got together on Friday night and played RockBand for about six hours. This is perfect for me: I have always wanted to re-create my favorite songs on some sort of instrument. I dabbled briefly in the guitar, but that interest waned when it required, you know, practice. Playing a fake guitar in front of a TV is much more my speed. However, and I don't know what to make of this, I played better when I was drinking. Was I more relaxed? Did I play better with others around me (this was noted as I woke up Saturday morning and played again by myself)? Maybe I just THOUGHT that I played better when I was drinking? Who knows. But we still have another day here, so there is time to determine the answer. And really, who wants to go outside when it's 129 degrees? Seriously.

Monday, May 19, 2008

Mozilla and Past Me - two pains in my ass

Mozilla, oh Mozilla. Why do you pain me so? I love you most of the time, with your browser that doesn't crash every five minutes, your tab feature, even the little fox mascot. There are also other reasons that tech people love, but I don't really care about open source, if it's linux capable or whatever - I think my computer is run by fairy dust and Keebler elves. Anyway, Firefox, why must you hate? Why can't I print ANYTHING out of Firefox on my home computer? Why can't you figure out that I am not printing web pages on index cards? Why? I have uninstalled and reinstalled and there is no love. NONE. One word a page? Really, Firefox?

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This weekend, boyfriend and I sold his car - we are officially a single car household! The greeness! The economic benefits! My joy is marred, however, by the villian known as Past Me- I can't figure out where Past Me put the extra car key. No idea. . .none. I look all through the car, in the glove compartment and the random useless little nooks and crannies. Then I think, maybe it's in the car file in the filing box. It's so logical, thus so unlikely, that it might just be the place. But no, Past Me figured on that and put it somewhere else. I keep thinking of places that it could be, of opening the drawer/cabinet/file/box and finding the key, just sitting on top of everything. I hate Past Me. She was retarded. I am totally out of places to look. And Toyota? They want some sort of key number or some such nonsense that will require a trip to Satan's Amusement Park, known as the stupid effing dealership. Hate, hate, hate.